Re: family presence at acute dialysis

Ann, I drop my husband off for his dialysis at the hospital and usually come back about 30 min before he's finished and sit with him. At our hospital, they encourage family to come, keep their family member company. I see many others with visitors too. We watch TV, talk etc. I've gotten to know most of the staff and find they are welcoming and happy to answer questions and explain things. I also get to see his Drs frequently. They have 5 nephrologists at our hospital and they rotate weekly, so he is seen by all of them and they all know his particulars. Patients are seen several times each week that way. I've also learned so much about CKD and dialysis by being there and find that I can be more understanding and supportive when I know a bit about what he goes through. Hope this helps you.

Re: family presence at acute dialysis

I think it definitely depends on where you are. Each clinic/hospital will have its own policies. Where I am (a clinic) we are not allowed visitors.... or food for that matter. Only one or two patients are allowed family with them because they have other issues. One man for instance is allowed company because his blood pressure goes very low, very fast and when he falls asleep, he pulls at his tubes. His companion is there to alert staff fast in case of problems. Also, he has severe anxiety. I know this because I asked when I wanted someone to stay with me. The other lady has similar issues. But as a general rule, we are not allowed visitors. It's always best to check with your clinic if you want company. I hope this helps.

Re: family presence at acute dialysis

I think it depends on each place. Where my dad goes he is allowed visitors. Even now that he is in the hospital, he was allowed to have me and my mom visit with him. I think its a nice way for the time to go by for my dad. It is nice for us too because we get to see how the whole dialysis process works.

Re: family presence at acute dialysis

Hi Ann Edwards,

Regarding your concerns about family visiting their family member dialysis patient, From the many years that I have been on dialysis, and the various dialysis units that I have been a fellow dialysis patient, I've observed the different variations of unit policies. When I first began dialysis treatment at this unit in Oakland, CA, My mom was allowed to sit with me and keep me company, and this unit encouraged your family or a confident to help you feel more at home and comfortable during your dialysis session, but of course there was an age limit for children to enter the unit setting. Although when I moved and relocated to another unit in Fairfield, I was at a very small unit, that had no more than 10 stations, so there wasn't very much room for extra bodies in the unit, because there was techs and nurses that had to be able to move around this small unit, but this very same unit relocated to a downtown site, and they replace the nurse manager that was very strict when it came to unit policy, she didn't allow my mom to stay in the unit with me, but towards the end of my treament she was allowed to come in to hold my graft to stop the bleeding, because I was too drowsy from medication to keep me from having any discomfort or pain from the lidocaine that wears off each session. So, I pray you are at a unit that is friendly when it comes to family members visiting to keep you at ease during your treatment session. If you are interested, I do have a book that I just recently self-published about my life's copings with kidney disease and dialysis. Just go online at xlibris.com, the bookstore, and search (right sidebar) - My Renal Life by Gloria Ann Jeff-Moore. You will get an image of the front cover, along with a brief description. You can also read my excerpt about the book and my author bio. You can also leave me a message at this site, under contact the author.

Re: family presence at acute dialysis

Hi Ann,

Long term dialysis brings many many experiences and coping along the way can sometimes be painful and depressing, especially when the clinic does not allow a family member or relative to be at your side when having dialysis. Every clinic has their own set of policies, protocols, but anytime for any reason they can change those rules at their discretion.

Since my very first dialysis back in 1978 I have saw many changes in the passing years incenter, rules and new rules that keep adding up to the list, some good and some bad... for the most part the rules seem to benefit more the clinic than the patient.

You do have options which you can take advantage of and one of those o ptions is home dialysis. Home dialysis will free you from those clinic policies and allow you to care for yourself at home and at the same time enjoy the flexible schedules, dialyze at any time of the day you want, especially home hemo.

If you have questions about home dialysis, please contact me over MSN or follow me on Twitter where I usually send short tweets while having dialysis at home.

Originally Posted by Ann Edwards

does anyone have experience with family wishing to be present at the dialysis procedure in an acute hospital setting, does DEVita have a policy and what are the reasons pro and con

Re: family presence at acute dialysis

I guess the US is much more strict than Canada.
While it i snice to not have to pay for healthcare, we have no privacy here- nurses even talk about other patients if front of them, leave peoples charts lieing around...lose papers-they print out your orders here and a lot of times somene, could be another nurse could just walk off with them then another nurse comes back looking for those papers and has no idea where they went.
That happens to me or someone around me at least 1 or 2x a week from what i see.

Also they will even give out health info over the phone to people who say they are your family members, the hospital policy is they are not supposed to do that...but the people at the dialysis unit do not really care- I've had to almost take legal action because i do not want anyone calling saying they are family and getting my medical info.....how would someone on the phone know who my family was.....they have not been to the dialysis unit more than once.....

Re: family presence at acute dialysis

One of the reasons I prefer clinics that have their dialysis machines secluded as small rooms giving that home like feeling and of course privacy. Most clinics nowadays look like factories, all patients bundled into an assembly line like work place.

Originally Posted by roscot50

Davita doesn't allow family back in the treatment area because of the privacy act. The other patients have the right to not be exposed to the rest of the world, or have thier identities exposed.

at my husbands davita nobody is allowed back with patients. but the patients are allowed to eat and drink. and they all have some kind of TB shot every three months. what's up with that? he's asked a few nurses but they just say "we do that with all patients".

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